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February 25: Hear Louisiana Poet Laureate Ava Leavell Haymon

Tuesday, February 25, 7:00 pm at Lake Oswego Public Library. Ava Leavell Haymon has published several poetry collections with the Louisiana State University Press and her poems have appeared in journals nationwide. She has also been awarded several prizes, including the Louisiana Literature Prize for poetry, the L.E. Phillabaum Poetry Award and the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters Award in Poetry. Her book Why the House is Made of Gingerbread was chosen as one the top ten poetry books of 2010 by Women’s Voices for Change. Haymon is a committed teacher of poetry writing, has worked as Artist in the Schools for a number of years, teaches poetry writing during the school year in Louisiana and, during the summer, directs a retreat center for writers and artists. William Stafford was an early model for Haymon’s poems, as she was beginning to write seriously. She will discuss Stafford’s influence and illustrate by reading several of those early poems. Haymon is currently the Poet Laureate of Louisiana.